Abū Dāwūd and Ibn Mājah (1) have, however, narrated a hadith from Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī in which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Whoever sleeps through witr or forgets it should pray it when morning comes or when he remembers.”
But this hadith has several defects:
First: It is narrated through ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, who is a weak narrator.
Second: The correctly preserved version is narrated by his father directly from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, without naming an intermediary. Al-Tirmidhī said: “This is the more correct version,” meaning the version with the intermediary omitted (2).
Third: After relating the authentic hadith of Abū Sa‘īd in which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Perform witr before morning comes” (4), Ibn Mājah (3) quoted Muhammad ibn Yahyā as saying: “This hadith is evidence that the hadith of ‘Abd al-Rahmān is very weak” (5).
(1) Abū Dāwūd (1431) transmitted it through Abū Ghassān Muhammad ibn Mutarrif al-Madanī, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from ‘Atā’ ibn Yasār, from Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī. Al-Dāraqutnī (1637), al-Hākim (1:302), and al-Bayhaqī (2:480) also transmitted it through this route, and its chain of transmission is sound. Ibn Mājah transmitted it under no. 1188, as did Ahmad (11264) and al-Tirmidhī (465), all through ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, from ‘Atā’ ibn Yasār, from Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī, with the same report. ‘Abd al-Rahmān is weak. Al-Albānī graded the hadith authentic in Sahīh Abī Dāwūd—al-Umm (5:175). See also al-Irwā’ (2:153–154).
(2) After transmitting it under no. 466.
(3) Following no. 1189.
(4) Muslim (754) transmitted it.
(5) This claim is problematic in light of Abū Dāwūd’s route, mentioned in the documentation of the preceding hadith, whose chain of transmission is sound. However, Ibn Rajab judged its chain weak in Fath al-Bārī (6:189), without providing evidence. Ibn Rajab also challenged Muhammad ibn Yahyā’s rejection of the preceding hadith on the basis of Muslim’s hadith mentioned above, saying: “That is not so. The command to perform witr before dawn is an instruction to hasten to offer it within its appointed time. If it is missed and its time has elapsed, this hadith commands that it be made up. Thus there is no contradiction between the two …”